Inside Ben Affleck's Enormous Colorful Phoenix Back Tattoo

A source reveals that 'it took hours and hours to finish' the massive back tattoo, which depicts a colorful phoenix rising from the ashes.

Mar 20, 2018

AceShowbiz - If you're curious about Ben Affleck's much talked-about back tattoo, lucky for you because some details of the massive tattoo have come to light. While some people mock the enormous ink, it appears that the process to get it done is not easy.

A source tells PEOPLE the Batman depicter got the piece, which depicts a colorful phoenix rising from the ashes, after his 2015 split from ex Jennifer Garner while he was still living in a guest house on their Los Angeles compound. "They had a huge tattoo machine at the house for days," says the source.

In addition, the source reveals that "it took hours and hours to finish" the ink.

Despite claiming that it was "fake for a movie" in December 2015, Ben flaunted the tattoo, which turns out to be real, as he was recently spotted having a training session for his upcoming movie "Triple Frontier" at the beach in Hawaii. As the "Justice League" star went shirtless during the outing, the ink was visibly seen covering almost his entire back.

After learning the truth that the tattoo was indeed real, some people took to Twitter to hilariously react to the revelation. "I knew it! That stupid back tattoo is real on Ben Affleck. What the hell was he thinking!!!" a user tweeted. Meanwhile, one other implied that Ben's "tattoo drama" was more interesting than Robert Mueller's investigation. "I've been following the Ben Affleck back tattoo drama more closely than the Mueller investigation," the user tweeted.

The "Gone Girl" actor's exes also found Ben's tattoo unflattering. Ben's exes previously weighed in on the giant back tattoo. Jennifer once told Vanity Fair, "You know what we would say in my hometown about that? 'Bless his heart.' A phoenix rising from the ashes. Am I the ashes in this scenario? I take umbrage. I refuse to be the ashes."

Echoing Jennifer's remarks, Jennifer Lopez said that the ink was "awful." She went on explaining to Andy Cohen, "I would tell him, 'What are you doing?' It has too many colors. His tattoos always have too many colors. They shouldn't be so colorful. You know what I mean? They should be cooler."